Don’t know much about the Brotherhood. . .

February 12, 2011

Andrew McCarthy had another piece on the Brotherhood recently. In it he described the Administration’s take on its secular nature as preparing the groundwork for failure (on the Administration’s part). I’m not sure I get the logic, but in the piece he printed the Brotherhood’s credo:

“Allah is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations”

Wikipedia (not the be all and end all source, but it will do in a pinch) backs him up on this. Wikipedia then goes on to discuss a view of the Islamists as expressed in 1963:

“The leadership of mankind by Western man is now on the decline, not because Western culture has become poor materially or because its economic and military power has become weak. The period of the Western system has come to an end primarily because it is deprived of those life-giving values, which enabled it to be the leader of mankind. It is necessary for the new leadership to preserve and develop the material fruits of the creative genius of Europe, and also to provide mankind with such high ideals and values as have so far remained undiscovered by mankind, and which will also acquaint humanity with a way of life which is harmonious with human nature, which is positive and constructive, and which is practicable. Islam is the only System which possesses these values and this way of life.”

When Khomeini talks about reform and then repressed the people. This was not hypocrisy. It was acting on his sincere belief that he was leading the people to live in accordance with God’s wishes. In my view current rulers of Iran are no different. They are not hypocrites. They are the deliverers of truth and justice.

Like him, The Brotherhood believes their way is the only way. That we can’t see that in the West is just confirmation of how out-of-touch we are.

As McCarthy points out, it’s got to be hard for a Muslim to oppose the Brotherhood openly. After all, their views are in keeping the their Book. How can you criticize them without criticizing your own faith? And then there’s the “put to death” part.

It doesn’t mean Egypt will necessarily go this direction, but it’s not hard to see how it could.